Composition for purifying gases.



PASCAL J-ULES GRANJ'ON, or MARISEILLE, FRANCE.

COMPOSITION FOR PURIFYING' GASES.

No-Drawing'.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I,- IAsoan JULns-GRAN- JON, a citizen of the Republic ofl rance, and a resident of No. 33 Boulevard Kruger, in

the city of Marseille, France, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Compositions for Purifying Gases, of which the following is' a: specification.

The present invention relates to anew process and product, which; though principally intended phosphoreted hydrogen which is contained in acetylene produced by the double decomposition of carbid of calcium and water, are nevertheless capable of being used for fixing phosphoreted hydrogen, either alone or mixed with other gases.

The principal products known anti-utilized hitherto for eliminatingphosphoreted hydrogen from the gascontaining ita'ct-as oxidizing agents in that they convert thephosphoreted hydrogen into" phosphoric acid, which, not being: volatile, remains imprisoned in the mass.

It was natural to think thatasalt containing the maximum amount of oxygen, easily reducible to salts containing the minimum quantity of oxygen (in practice, ferric chlorid, acting as oxidlzing agent) would easily give up their oxygen to the phosphoreted hydrogen according to the reac- This reduction of a" per -salt into a proto-salt' only takes place with the requisite intensity under the influence of a catalytic agent, such as, for example, bichlorid'of mercury which fixes the phosphoreted hydrogen and is 'then 'immediately regenerated by the per -salt which passes rious disadvantage, involving destructionof gliding, paint-work, tapestry, and being dangerous tOllBiIltll. This drawback is ren- Specification of Letters Patent for the elimination of'the -meroury,

Patented Sept. so, 1913;

Application-filed September 7; 1912. Serial No. 719,224.

dered still more serious owing to the fact that the hydrochloric acid is liberated in such small quantities thatit is not noticed immediately and is indeed very difficult to perceive, while its injurious action, slow but continued, is not observed until in time it" has attained serious proportions.

One of the first improvements suggested was to replace the mixture of ferric chlorid and ferric oxid, originally proposed, by ferric oxychlorid obtained from ferrous chlorid simply exposed to the air on a suitable support as, forexample, infusorial earth. This product offers the advantage of providing the chlorid, whose reduction involves the formation of hydrochloric acid, with the ox-id capable of absorbing this acid, thechlorid and the oxid being intimately connected, so to speak, molecule to molecule in the exact proportion desired. It also offers the appreciable advantage of being easy to manufacture and of a very moderate net cost. The product prepared in this way realizes complete purification as far as phosphoreted hydrogen is concerned; but although'th'e liberation of hydrochloric acid on combustion of the acetylene is less than 7 before, it is still too great to enable the process to be utilized in practice.

The 'form'atiomof volatile products containingcnlorin is completely hindered by the process forming the subject ofthe present invention, which consists in adding to the materials, whose bases are ferric chlorids and oxychlo'rids and bichlorid of a certain quantity of manganous acid (manganese dioxid, MnO obtained by precipitation). This addition does not diminish the purifying power of the material, nor the property it possesses of being able to regenerate'itself if exposed to theair; Mangan'ous acid moreover has merely a catalytic action, fora very small amount is suflicient for its action tocontinue until the material is entirely exhausted. This action can' be roughly explamedas follows: The phosphoret'ed hydrogen is oxidized and fixed by the chlorin of the oxychlorid with formation The The chlorin' is fixed by the ferrous chlorid,

' rectly to fix, by oxidation, a portion of thewhich is thus partly regenerated, or acts diphosphoreted hydrogen. This explanation should only be considered as an explanatory sketch in which hypothesis plays a necessary part, as is-the case with all phenomena m ucts mentioned above, more or less diluted with water, generally incorporated an absorbent support so that the whole is permeable by the gases. The proportions can vary widely according to the end in view.

In order to purify acetylene roduced by the action of water on carbid 0 calcium the following composition by weight may be taken as an example:

Ferrous chlorid (Fe Ch) at 40 Baum- 640 Bichlorid of mercury'(HgCl 8 Manganous acid (MnO precipitated); 2 Dry infusorial earth 350 In certain cases, if desired, the following com osition, by weight, could be used with goo results: 7

Ferrous chlorid at 45 Baum 600 Precipitated ferric oxid 90 Bichlorid of mercury i 8 Precipitated manganous acid 2 Infusorial earth 300 The mixture is then exposed to the air, for oxidation, until the reactions characteristic of ferrous salts disappear. The material thus produced is'an orange-yellow powder, slightly damp. 7

'When in use, that is, when the material is being employed'to purify gases, the ferric salts are transformed into ferrous salts and be ought back to ferric salts by re-oxidizing them by exposing the mass to the air.

This is'possible irrespective of the manner in whic the product was originally ob- It mixed with they can be regenerated, that is, they can' time, the oxidation or re-oxidation in the atmosphere of the masses in question takes a long time and is nearly always incomplete. According to this invention, this oxidation or re-oxidation can be greatly accelerated and rendered more complete, so as to render the use of the purifying product more convenient in practice, by adding to the purifying agent a copper salt which, by

catalytic action, (acting by its mere presence) insures the desired result being obtained. Copper sulfate appears to be the most suitable salt of copper for the purpose. A very small quantity ofcopper salt is necessary and a few grams will suflice (sometimes mere traces are enough if well incorporated) per kilogram of the purifying materialin order to give the desired effect. In

practice, for 1000 parts by weight of the purifying product consisting for example (apart from mercurial catalyzers or others which enter to a slight extent into the composition of the products stated above) of about 600 parts of chlorid or erchlorid of iron, and a out 400 parts of in sorial earth, about 25 to 50 parts of sulfate of copper should be added.

By way of example, which is merely indicatory and in no way limitary, the following composition which gives excellent results may be mentioned:

Ferrous chlorid (Fe Cl saturated solution 585 gr.

Crystals of copper sulfate (CuSO 5H O) 28' gr. Bichlorid'of mercury (HgOl 8 gr.

Manganous acid (precipitated MnO 4. gr.

Infusorial earth (free from lime and organic matter) 375 gr.

The sulfate or other salt of copper can be incorporated with the material at any time, but it is preferable to introduce it in'a dissolved state at the moment of manufacture by adding it to the ferrous or ferric chlorid before the liquor is incorporated with the infusori al earth or other porous body used as a supporting medium.

en the materials have been intimately and completely mixed, the massis exposed to the air until oxidation is finished, which is indicated by the disappearance of the reac. tions characteristic of ferrous salts. puring material is then ready for use;

131i (gent metalgcisllts and oxids have alrea een pro 0 or ur1 1n ases in partibulara mi xture of o xid b f ir o FelO and perchlorid of iron Fe Gl incor orate'd in an absorbent material such' as in sorial earth is known; the improvement which consists in adding to this mixture a small quantity (1 to 5 per 1,000) of bi-chlorid of mer-.

The

- cury as a catalyzing agent to be regenerated, in spite is also known, without which the mixture would not absorb the phosphorated in the acetylene. The iron salts, moreover have another property which is also known:

After they have given up their oxygen, they are capable of again absorbing oxygen simply by contact with the atmosphere, so'

that they can be purifying agents, more economical. spite of their capacity for absorbing all impurities in acetylene, in spite of their facility of the advantage which they offer of being of a low cost,all similar mixtures have been speedily abandoned after trial for the two reasons hereto fore stated, namely: (1) Formation of volatile products containing chlorin. (2) The difficulty of obtaining complete oxidation by the air.

Applicants'invention is limited essentially to the use of a composition which is not subject to these particular drawbacks, this composition being characterized by the addition to the known mixture of two products, namely: manganous acid, in order to prevent the formation of volatile products containing chlorin, and sulfate of copper for the purpose of rendering oxidation in the air more rapid and more complete.

Only hypotheses .can be made relative to used again several times as thus rendering the process the chemical reactions which give the results indicated above. As far as manganous acid is concerned, it can be assumed that it acts during the purifying, or, that its role, terminated at the moment of purifying, consists in modifying the molecular constitution of certain elements of the mixture.

acid is quite This is of little importance as itis only the results which are of interest.

It is certain that the product which is obtained by the present invention has a number" of properties which give it the charactor of a new invention and that the role of the copper salt and of the manganous different from that heretofore known.

It will be obvious that the proportions indicated above of the various ingredients can be varied to a certain extent according to the end in view.

I claim:

1. A composition for purifying gases comhydrogen contained 'ohlorid of mercury, All. this is known, but in,

prising metallic oxids and chlorids, bichlorid of mercury, supporting agent in substantially the proportions set forth, with the addition of a relatively small quantity of manganous acid (hydrated dioxid of manganese obtained chemically) acting as catalyzing agent.

2. A composition for purifying gases, comprising metallic oxids and chlorids, bi-

and a porous permeable supporting agent in substantially the proportions set forth, with the addition of a relatively small quantity of an easily reducible oxid of manganese acting as catalyzing agent.

3. A composition for purifying gases comprising metallic oxids and chlorids, bichlorid of mercury, and a porous permeable supporting agent in substantially the proportions set forth, with the addition of a relatively small quantity of manganous acid and of a relatively small quantity of a copper salt.

4. A composition for purifying gases comprising oxids and chlorids of iron, bichlorid of mercury, and a porous permeable supporting agent in substantially the proportions set forth, with the addition of a relatively small quantity of manganous acid (hydrated dioxid of manganese obtained chemically) acting as catalyzing agent.

5. A composition for purifying gases, comprising oxids and chlorids of iron, bichlorid of mercury, and a porous permeable supporting agent in substantially the proportions set forth, with the addition of a relatively small quantity of an easily reducible oxid of manganese acting ascatalyzing agent.

6. A composition for purifying gases comprising oxids and chlorids of iron; bichlorid of mercury, and a porous permeable supporting agent in substantially the proportions set forth, with the addition of a relatively small quantity of manganous acid, and of a relatively small quantity of a copper salt.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 25th day of August 1912 in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

PASCAL JULES GRANJ ON.

Witnesses:

ANTOINE AMBROSINI, PAUL LAFORFST.

and a porous permeable 

